Pandemonium

[stringmods]

☢

Who: Everyone [Open]
Where: The Entire City | 18th from 1am to 11pm
Summary: Complete and utter chaos
Warnings: Despair
Music: Break my Soul

Chaos.

There was no other way to describe the mood in the city, the streets filled with civilians attempting to huddle to the closest safe havens. The demons who had walked a fragile alliance with humans, previously content to stay underground due to the fact that they knew they would be pushed back, suddenly filled the streets - attacking on sight when they saw humans showing themselves to be weak. The darker monsters among them relished in this new opportunity, ignoring humanity's pleas and destroying what little remained of the city's peaceful sanity.

Everywhere, the city was a tumultuous mixture of those still stuck in their childish forms, with some back to their older selves trying to fix what they could and reestablish electrical power and barriers. Some demons, siding with humanity despite everything, aided them by keeping the others at bay. Personas were out in full force, swarming the skies and pushing back invaders. But it simply wasn't enough.

Without a network and all of the news outlets completely silent, everyone was left to fend for themselves... and it wasn't pretty.

The Visitors had to act as fast as they could, still in their child forms or not. There was so much to do, and without any directives. No intel sent to their heads explaining the situation. The Wise Men facility was silent. No one seemed to be answering...

[OOC - Here is the City Page. Your character can be anywhere and either look for clues, help people out or simply try to defend themselves. Remember, there is no electrical power right now, and most of the areas of the city are dark.

It's up to you to decide what to do. Shall you go save civilians, reestablish power, go to the MAGI headquarters? The choices will affect the game. There is a planning post in the OOC comm, create teams, decide what to do and help save Hinoto-Ri by following this link. Just know that, tonight, someone you might have thought an ally will declare themselves a foe.

Good luck.]

Comments

[trainwrecking]

I... ['I really don't think so,' he wants to say, but this is the one thing he can clearly answer.]

No. No, we have to do this ourselves. [As far as torches and braziers go -]

Ah? Uh, no, I don't think we have anything like that... I'll make a circle of rocks. Pretty sure we have matches in the house somewhere... [Hopefully.] How's your temperature?

[winnocspet]

[He doesn't look cheered up any by the idea that the vampires he knows won't come help. He gives another worried frown to the street outside, hugging his arms to himself uneasily. The gesture totally has nothing to do with him being cold. Totally doesn't.

....Okay, maybe it does, just a little.]

Um.... [He blinks back up to Otonashi.] My toes are cold.... [Maybe he shouldn't be wearing sandals all the time?]

....What's a match?

[trainwrecking]

Right... go get a blanket from inside.

[He looks down at the aforementioned toes, his posture slumping. Of course bare toes are cold. But did Avitus even have shoes? Ever?]

... And socks. Borrow them from Aoi if you have to. [Nevermind the fashion disaster that is socks and sandals, and nevermind the sock-swapping. He's got dainty enough feet. It'll be fine.]

Matches are -- uh, something that little kids don't play with. Come on, we'll go in together and get this sorted.

[winnocspet]

[Well, as his usual, more grown up self, he did have a pair of boots among his belongings, somewhere in his closet... but boots meant for much larger and far more birdlike feet wouldn't do a small human child's any good right now. He blinked up at Otonashi, not interrupting the older boy until he was sure he was done talking, and nodded once, turning to follow close after him.]

All right.

[A brief pause.]

What are socks?

[trainwrecking]

[Otonashi holds the door open, motioning for Avitus to go in first.]

... Umm.
[So that's a thing. Now how to explain "socks..."]

Cloth... tubes of fabric that go on your feet? You've really never heard of socks before? Ahh, well, uh... yeah, they keep your feet... warmer...

[winnocspet]

[This kid is definitely full of odd questions, isn't he. Didn't question the fridge or freezer once he saw that it was okay with the others if he opened it, and has figured out that he can get some food out of it to eat... but he's questioning socks. Given, he assumed that the former were magical cupboards, but still.

He nods, though, giving Otonashi a smile as he heads inside.]

Like wrapping them up, except faster? I looked around, but all the wraps in the room I'm staying in are much too big! I'd have to wear it all the way up one leg, and... perhaps even down the other! And that would look like I'm wearing pants!

[He pauses a little at that, looking back up at the other again, suddenly serious.]

Why are you wearing pants, anyway? You're a human, like me, aren't you?

[trainwrecking]

Yeah. We really only wrap feet if they're injured here...

[Unfortunately, Avitus might have to just borrow of a pair of Otonashi's. At least the teenaged boy isn't a hulking human being. He motions for Avitus to wait a moment and dips into his own room to retrieve a small, black pair.]

... Hah? Why wouldn't I wear pants? I-I guess sometimes I just wear my underwear, but... not outside of my room. And I'm not really a big fan of shorts.

[Otonashi never thought to question Avitus's attire. What someone wanted to wear is their business, and the redhead would be hard-pressed to bring up an oddity unless the attire seemed uncharacteristic or otherwise good fodder for a playful jab.]

[winnocspet]

[Eh, he's six. He's got bitty feet. He'll fit into Otonashi's socks easily... sort of. They're probably too big for him, but it's fine; all the more material to squish into his little sandals and keep his feet warm with, right? At least his sandals don't have the part that goes down between first and second toes, to connect to the sole of them... no, he'll thank the other boy and get the socks on without difficulty, while he talks.]

Shorts? [He glances up, curious -- not a term he's heard used like that before.] But humans aren't supposed to wear pants... that's what the clan wears.

[A slight pause as he considers--] At least... I'm pretty sure. I haven't seen what the humans wear if they're working outside the castle yet, like in the fields or the mines.

[And this doesn't seem to bother him in the slightest. He tugs the socks up so they cover as much of his shins as they're able, and wiggles his toes in them.]

Are there any socks that're smaller than this, that I could keep to wear?

[Maybe if the kidlet thing wouldn't just wear off in a day or so they ought to go clothes-shopping for the kid? He's only been wearing the one outfit, as it is....]

[trainwrecking]

[Humans aren't supposed to wear pants? It sounds terribly foreign to him. Even girls could wear pants if they wanted to, even if school uniforms trended towards skirts for their female students. It's a cultural difference, he figures, but an odd one.]

I need something to cover me. What else would I wear? All I've ever had is pants. [Then, as an aside:]

I'm surprised you didn't ask me about the necktie at this point... Eh? [Otonashi glances down at the now sock-clad feet.] Um... I don't think Aoi has any other than what she's wearing. You can keep those, but they're the only size I have. I don't think I can go get a pair... ah, legally.

[The last word is uttered softly, barely audible. The power grid is out of commission and clothing stores probably aren't bothering to operate. Is this dire enough to break the law?]

[winnocspet]

[Ah, cultural differences! ...But Avitus hadn't said anything about it before. Either he'd gotten used to a different standard since he was a child, or else he'd grown out of being quite so bold and free in his questioning. Or both, perhaps. But he was a child here, and a curious one, at that, unrestrained and bright, who spoke up when he wanted to be heard instead of quietly hinting for an opportunity to speak so that he didn't interrupt.

Which meant, of course, that now that clothing was the subject of conversation, Otonashi's fashions were fair game for investigation.]

Neck... tie? Is that what you call it? It's just for show, isn't it? Like earrings? [He raised a hand to push back the gold curls that covered one ear, to show off a pair of well-polished gold hoop earrings... and then eyed Otonashi over again, a serious look on his face.] Whose clan do you belong to, anyway? Is that how all the humans dress where you're from?

[trainwrecking]

Eh? Uh, not exactly, but I guess it could be almost the same. I've never thought about it.

[He retrieves one of his tighter long-sleeved shirts and hands it over to the child. It may be comically large for a kid, but it functions.]

Try that out. [But then he's hit with another odd question.]

I-- clan, what? I... don't? The SSS wasn't exactly a clan... More like a band of misfits.

[winnocspet]

[The kid takes off his loose red shirt, and starts putting on Otonashi's offering. It is plenty big on him, but he pushes the sleeves up, before pausing to rethink that... and then starts folding them up instead, while he speaks, making thick, wide cuffs out of the extra material.]

But... if you don't already belong to a clan, then any of them could send their hunters to claim you. And then you might have to be one of Turel's slaves, and Winnoc said that was a terrible thing, since they're monsters! And besides, there's no farms and stuff outside the clan territories, so where would you get enough food so you won't be hungry?

[Sleeves finally up enough to neatly leave his hands free, he looks back up at the older boy and begins putting his loose red shirt back on, over the borrowed top. No reason not to double up on the fabric, was there?]

[trainwrecking]

I've always grabbed my food from convenient packages at the store. Or with a meal ticket. I don't really need a group to help me feed myself...

[Without parent figures in the picture prior to his death, fending for himself became the norm. It wasn't ever a question.]

And I don't plan on being enslaved any time soon. I don't know where you get these ideas... [It is a little hard to decipher child fantasy from cultural difference.]

[winnocspet]

[The kid tilts his head a bit, listening, still confused about all this, somehow. He tucks the borrowed shirt's length down into his skirt as he does, quiet.]

Why not?

[He seems... entirely serious, in asking that.]

I mean... I don't think anyone wants to be for Turel or Dumah, but Winnoc said Rahab is awfully nice to his, and it's nice at Raziel's... why don't you come to Raziel's with me when we're not here any more? [A little head-tilt, regarding him, and he smiles faintly....] I bet they'd like you.

[trainwrecking]

Why not? I'm not interested in being someone's... property or, ah-- I don't know! The closest thing I'm comfortable with is, ah... working somewhere miserable. Or cram sessions before an entrance exam.

[That's his modern equivalent of enslavement, anyway.]

I don't want to be too forward, but... I don't want to think about someone owning me. Or anyone else... [It sounds like something out of a horror story to a fairly modern Japanese boy. If Avitus had been describing some obscure novel or fanfiction, he might be more receptive, but... real life?]

[winnocspet]

[Have another confused head-tilt.]

But... that's what humans are for.

[He still seems entirely serious about this, too.]

They're for doing things the clans can't, and being food and maybe getting turned into part of their clan later.

[trainwrecking]

No -!

[He has to fight to contain the reflexive bite in his voice. But the words strike a chord deep within him, and his confusion and disbelief quickly turns to fire.

Fire, but not raw anger.]

Humans aren't around to be someone else's meal. We have lives and purposes. Maybe they're not always perfect, but they're our own. Ours. Yours! I know we're from different worlds, but doesn't your life mean anything more to you?

[winnocspet]

[The boy looks... really surprised. He nods a little, unsure, and one hand heads to the other's wrist, to play with the gold cuff on it, now hidden under the long sleeve.]

Like getting to play after I do chores, and... learning to read? Because I do that too....

[trainwrecking]

That's a start... Isn't there anything you really love? Something that has nothing to do with serving others?

[winnocspet]

...Like what?

[trainwrecking]

I don't know... Drawing, painting, singing? Playing a sport? You should try to do something you actually want for a change.

[winnocspet]

[He's quiet a second, and back to giving Otonashi a funny look.]

But if I wanted to do any of that, I could do it anyway. Why's it matter about being a slave or not, to do it?

[trainwrecking]

How can you say that? Enslavement isn't-- You don't get to live your own life, you always have to follow someone else!

[He takes a deep breath and rummages through the drawers. They must have matches for candlelighting...]

... There's no way that's a fair life. That's... that's just it.

[winnocspet]

So.... [Another pause, tilting his head; he really is trying to get this.] ....you don't ever have to do chores? So... who does laundry and dishes? And cooks food?

[trainwrecking]

... I do all of those things myself. Maybe my mother used to, but... I don't really remember my parents at all.

[It's a pained confession, one that motivates him to search more intently for those matches. He feels the edge of the matchbox under his fingernails and fishes it out, popping it open.]